Second-from-bottom takes on second-from-top in the Premier League this weekend when West Bromwich Albion welcome Manchester United to The Hawthorns.

The Baggies now find themselves 11 points adrift of safety with their survival hopes fading quickly, while Man United have fallen five points behind leaders Manchester City at the other end of the table.

Match preview

Sitting second in the Premier League table after 23 games will have already surpassed most people's expectations for Man United this season, but if they have ambitions of aiming even higher and catching Manchester City then games like Sunday's will be crucial.

With third-placed Leicester City facing fourth-placed Liverpool on Saturday there will be an opportunity for Man United to extend their lead over at least one of the teams directly below them in the table, and there is no doubt that they will travel to The Hawthorns as firm favourites to come away with all three points.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have lost just one of their last 17 league outings and are in particularly good form away from home, with no team picking up more points on their travels than the Red Devils, who also boast the only unbeaten away record in the top flight this term.

Indeed, Man United's unbeaten away run now stretches back a club-record 18 games spanning more than a year, although that streak may be tested more stringently in upcoming trips to face Chelsea and Manchester City.

Before then, the Red Devils face struggling pair West Brom and Newcastle United in the league, coupled with Europa League games against Real Sociedad, so the next fortnight or so could be crucial to their hopes of picking up silverware this season.

Solskjaer's side kept another route to trophies open in midweek with a 1-0 win over West Ham United to progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals, although they needed extra time to see off their Premier League rivals through Scott McTominay's goal.

The dull and dreary nature of that game was in stark contrast to the fireworks of their last two Premier League outings, which have seen them score 12 goals - a 9-0 hammering of Southampton and then a dramatic 3-3 draw with Everton which saw Man United concede a last-gasp equaliser.

That result would have almost felt like a defeat, but it still bolstered their league-leading goal tally, which they will be expected to boost even further against the division's worst defence this weekend.

The Baggies' appointment of Sam Allardyce has not yielded benefits so far, with last weekend's 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur meaning that they have now picked up just one point from their last five games and won only one of their last 13 top-flight outings to leave themselves 11 points away from safety.

No team has picked up fewer points over that period of 13 games, and the picture looks even worse when isolating West Brom's home form - the worst in the league with only one win from 11 games and six points from a possible 33 in that time.

Allardyce's men have taken just one point from their last six games at The Hawthorns, failing to even score in four of those and, even more concerningly, conceding 24 times at an average of four per game.

Indeed, a whopping 31 of their 54 goals conceded this season have come at home - the most by any team at this stage of a top-flight campaign since Chelsea in 1960-61.

Nonetheless, there are still glimmers of hope for Sunday's hosts; Man United's solitary loss in their last 17 league outings came against Sheffield United - the only team below West Brom in the table - and under Solskjaer the Red Devils have lost twice as many games against sides in the relegation zone than they have against sides in the top four.

Defeat this weekend would see Man United lose back-to-back top-flight games against teams in the bottom three for the first time since 1992, and the Baggies' record against them has certainly improved over recent years with four wins and three draws from the last 12 meetings - having not beaten United in the league since 1984 before that.

Even so, anything other than defeat this weekend would be a shock given the form of both sides, and it would take a sizeable upset for West Brom to pick up the win they need to inject some momentum into an increasingly unlikely survival bid.

West Bromwich Albion Premier League form: WLLDLL

Manchester United Premier League form: DWLDWD
Manchester United form (all competitions): WLDWDW

Team News

Manchester United are expected to welcome a host of big names back into their starting XI for this match, including Bruno Fernandes.

The Portuguese playmaker has scored 13 goals and created nine more in the Premier League this season, leaving him just one assist away from becoming only the fourth Man United player to reach double figures for both in a single campaign.

Edinson Cavani should lead the line again as he looks to net for a third successive league game, while Tuesday's match-winner McTominay may have also earned himself another start after netting his seventh goal of the campaign.

David de Gea and Luke Shaw will also expect to be recalled to the starting lineup, while Marcus Rashford, who has six goals and five assists away from home this season, should keep his place.

Eric Bailly could be back in contention after narrowly missing out on the midweek FA Cup match, and Solskjaer must decide whether to stick with Victor Lindelof alongside Harry Maguire at the heart of the defence.

Paul Pogba remains out for the visitors, though, while Phil Jones is a long-term absentee.

Grady Diangana is West Brom's only injury concern and he is now back in training, although this match will come too soon for the winger.

January arrival Okay Yokuslu could be brought in for his first start after making his debut off the bench last weekend, and he will likely be joined by fellow new recruit Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Matheus Pereira has been the main man for West Brom in terms of goals recently, netting half of the 10 the Baggies have scored under Allardyce across all competitions.

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Furlong, Ajayi, Bartley, Gibbs; Snodgrass, Yokuslu, Maitland-Niles, Gallagher; Pereira; Diagne

Manchester United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, McTominay; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani

We say: West Bromwich Albion 0-3 Manchester United

Everything points towards a comfortable Man United win in this match; it pits the league's worst defence against the league's best attack, and the division's worst home record against the joint-best away record.

Man United have not tended to blow struggling teams away on the road despite that good away form, but West Brom have been beaten by big scorelines on a number of occasions recently and are shipping goals freely at The Hawthorns.

With the attacking talent at Man United's disposal, we can see the visitors securing a first Premier League double over West Brom since 2011-12 in style.

Video prediction

Watch the Sports Mole Football Shorts prediction for this game below:

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